Tag Archives: What should a counselor do?

What should a counselor do? This question refers to what the counselor should do when counseling with a client. What kind of attitude should be shown by a counselor to the client and includes the strategies carried out by the counselor in solving problems from the beginning of the meeting until the problem is resolved. Meanwhile, check out the counseling service in Littleton, CO here.

Race on Cavanagh (1982) “The counseling process consists of the initial stages (introduction, invitation, and environmental support), the middle stage (action), and the final stage (termination)”. The client meeting with the counselor has several stages which at each stage have different treatments to get a positive development in solving the problem or the goal to be achieved.

The initial stage is the first time a counselor meets a client in a conversation. The counselor talks with the client to establish a counseling relationship. The things that are done in the initial stage are the disclosure of the problem and clarifying the problem experienced, then the counselor can plan alternative solutions that will be given to the client to contract the counseling activities to be carried out. The initial stage is said to be successful if there is openness between the client and the counselor on the problems they experience.

The initial stage becomes meaningful assisted by the counselor’s attitude in responding to the client’s problems, namely the attitudes shown so that the client feels comfortable when counseling such as showing empathy, asking to open the conversation, silence when the client speaks and gives gestures as a sign of agreement or respect At this stage the counselor can start the conversation by luring the client so that he tells the problem that is being experienced.

The second stage is action, which is an explanation of the broader problems experienced by the client and what assistance will be given based on a reassessment of what has been explored about the client’s problem. Clarify the problems experienced by clients to provide new understanding, new alternatives that may be different from before. In this stage, the counselor involves clients who may be able to provide new understanding of the problem and find a solution to the problem independently. The continuation of the first phase is marked by the opening of the client when doing counseling with the meaning that the client is comfortable, open and with enthusiasm in the counseling process.

The third stage is the termination, the final stage of the counseling process. The last stage is marked by a reduced anxiety in the client, starting to find a solution to the problem and a change in attitude towards a more positive, the purpose of his life, and future plans to be achieved. The third stage is marked by the existence of a contract counseling termination which is the end of the counselor’s relationship with the client.